Flights To Fancy

Travelling the world in luxury for less a week at a time

Sydney Weekend Getaways: 15 Fabulous Short Breaks From Sydney NSW

Weekend Road Trips From Sydney

I love Sydney getaways. I’ve lived here all my life and every time I get a glimpse of our magnificent harbour I am reminded just how lucky I am to call it home. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy my Sydney weekenders. After a hectic work week sometimes a short break from Sydney is just what the doctor ordered. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Friday night traffic is manic as the residents of the harbour city exit en masse in search of their own perfect Sydney weekend getaways. To make the most of our short breaks from Sydney we keep the driving time to within 4 hours and try knock off a little early on a Friday afternoon to beat the worst of the traffic. Weekend Getaways in NSW are incredibly diverse and within a few hours you could find yourself beside a beautiful beach, nestled in a quaint country town, exploring the the nation’s capital or hiking rugged mountain ranges. Read on for 15 of the best short trips from Sydney …

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How To Plan A Successful Blue Mountains Day Trip From Sydney

Three Sisters Blue Mountains NSW

Everybody should do a Blue Mountains day trip from Sydney at least once. Being a Sydney local, I have made the journey many times. The Blue Mountains region is an easily accessible area of stunning natural beauty on the city fringes which encompasses dramatic sandstone formations, impressive canyons, steep cliffs, virgin bush land and stunning waterfalls. Dotted with quaint villages, local galleries and award-winning gardens, the Blue Mountains has much to delight. With so much to see, day trippers will have to carefully decide what to include in their Blue Mountains trip because it is not possible to see it all in a day. Read on for all the details …

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Need Forster Accommodation? Try Great Lakes Caravan Park Forster

Boat at sunset at Great Lakes Forster Caravan Park

I love the nostalgia of a road trip. My recent stay at the Great Lakes caravan park Forster brought back memories of my childhood when Mum and Dad would throw me and the dogs in the back of the unseatbelted, unairconditioned, unreliable Kingswood and drive from dawn til dusk on bitumen turned molten under the harsh Australian sun to some far flung caravan park in the middle of nowhere because it was cheap. I remember spending a lot of time on the side of the road listening to the stream of expletives that spewed from my Dad’s mouth while his head was buried under the bottle green bonnet. No wonder I can swear like a sailor! Later, as newly licensed, cash-poor teenagers, we would pool our pennies for gas, pile into one of our bangers and speed out of Sydney most Friday nights with an exuberance reserved only for the young. Those were heady days and we reveled in that joyous space between childhood and being a ‘real’ adult where you are invincible. 30(ish) years on, I itch to explore all the world has to offer and travel means boarding a flight to fancy rather than starting up the family car. With one exception. Our annual group trip. As we settled into our Forster accommodation, the menfolk unpacked the cars, the kids ran excitedly from one cabin to the next and I nursed a freshly poured wine while taking a moment to study the now laugh lined faces of those once carefree young women I road tripped with a lifetime ago. And I felt blessed. Blessed to still have them in my life. Sure it’s a harder to get together now. Gone are the days when we would simply ring around on a Thursday night to see who was ‘in’ for the weekend as none of us yet possessed (or even imagined) smart phones capable of instant group chat. These days our technology has improved but hectic schedules, kid’s weekend activities, shift-working husbands and a general level of exhaustion must all be juggled with military precision to find time to catch up. Even though my grown up boys have long since stopped tagging along, I still enjoy the simplicity of these trips and spending quality time with a group of pals I love with all my heart. Read on for all the details …

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Emirates Lounge Sydney International Airport

Fash Packing: Emirates Lounge Sydney International Airport Review - Lounge Chairs

Anyone who has flown out of Sydney International Airport in the last year or so will know major works are on the go. I fly in and out of SYD International (T1) every eight weeks or so and each time I visit it’s different. Just when I think I have it figured out, they go and change it on me again. Airports are normally chaotic at the best of times, but all this construction just adds to the drama. I usually fly in the cheap seats and end up in killing time in Maccas (McDonalds for the non-Aussies!) so I was thrilled to have lounge access en route to our week long road trip around New Zealand’s stunning North Island. I’m no stranger to an airport lounge and I had high expectations that the Emirates Lounge Sydney International Airport would be a cut above the rest. So did it live up to my expectations? Read on for all the details …

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Skyzone Miranda: Awesome School Holiday Fun

Sydney Fashion Hunter: Skyzone Miranda - Entrance

It’s school holidays in Sydney. Again. I mean, do these kids ever go to school? You may think that given my ‘boys’ are well past their high school days that this wouldn’t even be a blip on my radar. Not so. By virtue of the fact that I had my kids young and my friends didn’t, I often find myself surrounded by ankle biters and having to work in with the school calendar, so yes, I am acutely aware of when school holidays roll around. Well that, and the fact that I never book my trips in school holidays as it’s virtually impossible to score a bargain flight (read more of my tips on that here). It’s not all bad, I do genuinely like hanging out with the rug ruts as it keeps me feeling young. My friends are always looking for something new, fun and exciting to amuse their offspring so when the opportunity was presented to me to visit Skyzone Miranda shortly after their grand opening, I jumped at the chance. Literally! So what is Skyzone exactly? And what did the kids think of it? Read on for all the details …

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Lake Conjola NSW: A Hidden Gem

Lake Conjola

I bet you have never heard of Lake Conjola right? I’m not surprised! Despite living in Sydney all my life, I only discovered this little gem last year myself. Lake Conjola is about 2 ½ hours drive south of Sydney near Ulladulla and is the perfect place for a weekend escape with a group of friends. It is by no means a bustling metropolis, in fact if you blink you are likely to miss it, but there is a serene beauty to the place that makes it very attractive to those looking to escape the city for a spell. There are plenty of activities of offer for those that want to partake, but the real draw for me is doing not very much at all. Read on for all the details …

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Hunter Valley NSW: Simply Breathtakingly

Long Weekend in the Hunter Valley: Vines at Tyrrell's Estate
I have just spend the most awesome weekend with three of my very favourite ladies visiting The Hunter Valley, a spectacularly beautiful part of NSW about 3 hours drive north of Sydney. We were predominantly here to attend the Cold Chisel Last Stand Concert at the Hope Estate on Saturday night. The Hunter Valley is wine country and some of Australia’s very best wine come from the vines here and it is exported all over the world. We did our fair share of sampling the local drop at some excellent cellar doors but we also found time for some fine (and not so fine!) dining, supporting the local economy (i.e. shopping) and interacting with the wildlife. Let me tell you all about it …

My Hometown: See Sydney Like A Local

Fash Packing by Sydney Fashion Hunter: Sydney Like A Local - Sydney Harbour Bridge & Opera House

*** Last Updated April 2019 ***

So it probably doesn’t come as too much as a surprise to you that I am a very proud Sydney Sider, but what did come as a surprise to me is that only 9% of my readers are from this wonderful city I call home. Google analytics is a wonderful thing isn’t it? Anyhoo, it got me thinking that maybe I should do my bit for Destination NSW and do a little bragging on here about all the things that make Sydney so fabulous. Thinking of visiting Sydney? I’ll help you avoid the tourist traps and see Sydney like a local. Read on for all the details …

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